When Destiny Burns, Ep. 1: A Halo and Inheritance Cycle Crossover

Chapter 9. 2 Physician, heal thyself

"Durza died. The urgals fled. The Varden won."

She snorted weakly. And a moment later she wished she hadn't done so, as a new spike of pain racked her body. 'And the Shade? How did you best her?'

"No idea," Maine replied as he kept his gaze aimed at his prisoner, "mentally."

He sounded...off. Distracted. His movements were jerky, his mind was shielded and his words were not enough to convey a message. Was he wounded?

'Maine, what has happened to you?' She asked him carefully. 'Are you wounded?'

"Nothing worth noting."

'There is a thin line between stupidity and bravery,' She thought to herself, 'and he walks it every day.'

The three of them made their way into Tronjheim, where there were only more scared humans and dwarves waiting for then. None of them were willing to let the Shade go through their ranks, yet none of them possessed enough bravery to try and stop her.

It was as if they knew that Maine would kill them all if they dared to oppose them.

'Can you smell Saphira?' Her rider asked her eventually, when they arrived at a split in the city.

She sniffed the air and caught the familiar musky smell of the blue dragon. It was stronger to their left. 'She is to our left,' she explained.

Saphira was also a curious case. Her rider was nothing special, but the dragon was. She was Aeraleth's elder when it came to age and experience, but she still treated her like an equal. Aeraleth liked that about the dragon. The only problem was that Saphira openly hated and feared Maine, which would probably get in their way in the future.

But for now, she longed to be with the blue dragoness. Her presence would assure her that things would be alright again and who knew; perhaps Saphira knew how to deal with strange riders.

Maine eventually reached a door guarded by six dwarves. All of them assumed a hostile position when seeing the shade, but they relaxed when they saw that the monstrous female was closely followed by the armoured rider and his dragon.

They banged their spears on the ground and then opened the giant door, which was large enough for Aeraleth to enter without too much hardship.

The dwarves growled and muttered and pointed their weapons at the shade, but dared not to attack her and soon, they had passed them.

The door closed behind them with a heavy sound and Maine told her to stick close.

She agreed to his wish and looked around. They were currently inside of a very large cavernous room, large enough for her to walk around unhindered. As she had expected, Saphira was resting at the far end of the room, with her head inside the only opening in the wall. That had to be where the other races whose smell she had caught on a whim were residing.

When the door closed, the blue dragon jumped to attention and pulled her head out, growling loudly while she did.

'Be at ease, sister of mine, ' she told Saphira. 'The Shade is our prisoner. My rider has her under control.'

'Are you aware of the damage they can wreak young one?' Saphira replied, her anger looming in the back of her mind like a great thundercloud. 'My rider has nearly been killed by the one named Durza.'

She inhaled sharply when she heard that. She did not necessarily like Eragon, but she didn't dislike him either. And she knew that he meant the world to Saphira. 'What has happened?'